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Ferrari 250 Tour de France

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1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ by Scaglietti

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

There are perhaps few cars that have had more variations of them built than the Ferrari 250. The backbone of the series is the Colombo V12 displacing 3.0 liters. Power output was model-specific, and this car puts out 247 horsepower, which is about mid-range for a Tour de France model (they ranged from 237-256 between the different series).

The 250 GT Tour de France came about after a special Pinin Farina-designed and Scaglietti-built special won the 1956 Tour de France road race that was held all over France. The designation was never official but was used to describe the cars by the factory. The design was put into production and a total of 79 were built between 1956 and 1959. They were built in four distinct series. This is a Series IV car, the 30th of the 36 built (Series IV are the most numerous). What sets it apart is the fact that it has but one vent behind each of the side windows as well as uncovered headlights (although some export models had the headlight covers fitted, making this even rarer).

Right from the get-go, this car was used for competition. It competed in hill climbs all over Italy in the hands of its first owner, reaching the podium in its class multiple times and winning a few as well. After only three years on the circuit, the car exchanged hands for the first time, and then hopped from here to there, spending years in some of the world’s great collections.

It has competed in the historic Mille Miglia and was restored by its current owner, who acquired it in 2002. While the ‘Tour de France’ 250 GT may not be a 250 GTO, their prices have risen steadily over the years and they remain one of the most collectible (and by that I mean “expensive”) variants of the 250 GT. Only serious Ferrari collectors need apply, as the pre-sale estimate is listed at $2,900,000-$3,850,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM in London, click here.

Update: Sold $3,160,000.

RM 2012 Hershey Highlights

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RM Auctions’ 2012 sale in Hershey, Pennsylvania had a bunch of really old, really cool cars for sale. We featured the cream of the crop (at least from our perspective) and most of those sold. The one-of-a-kind South Bend Surrey failed to sell. So did the Stanley Mountain Wagon and 1915 Peerless. The top sale went to the Barrelside Model J Duesenberg for $1,292,500. Our other featured Duesenberg, the Murphy Sport Sedan, was the second-biggest sale at $792,000. One of the interesting cars we didn’t get a chance to feature was this 1914 Jeffrey Four Five-Passenger Touring that sold for $40,700.

1914 Jeffrey Four Five-Passenger Touring

One big seller was a horse-drawn fire wagon. There were three of these at this sale, but this was far exceeded the other two, at $396,000. It’s an 1894 Silsby Fourth Size Horse-Drawn Steam Pumper. It was pretty decked out and everyone seemed happy when it sold.

1894 Silsby Fourth Size Horse-Drawn Steam Pumper

Other interesting sales included this 1912 Baker Electric Model W Runabout. There’s something about the tires on this thing that make it look like it’s ready to go tackle some trails somewhere. It sold for $85,250.

1912 Baker Electric Model W Runabout

Other alternative-propulsion vehicles included our featured 1900 Milwaukee Steam Runabout for $44,000. The 1906 Pope-Waverley Electric Runabout brought $60,500. And the 1906 Columbus Model 1000 Electric Stanhope sold for $52,250. This 1913 Simplex 38HP Five-Passenger Touring, while not electric or steam-powered, was still cool at $214,500.

As was this 1910 White Model G-A Five-Passenger Touring that sold for $66,000.

There was an interesting selection of American cars from the 1950s and 60s that included this very rare 1966 Studebaker Daytona Sport, which sold for only $10,450.

Kaiser and Frazer were also represented. This 1949 Kaiser Deluxe Convertible sold for $57,200.

1949 Kaiser Deluxe Convertible

And this 1950 Frazer Manhattan sedan brought $49,500.

This 1903 Ford Model A Rear-Entry Tonneau is the oldest known Ford in existence being  one of the first three cars built by the Ford Motor Company. It came from the John O’Quinn  collection and sold for $264,000.

1903 Ford Model A Rear-Entry Tonneau

As many old Fords as you see at auctions, you don’t see too many pre-1920 Chevrolets. This sale had one and its a great looking car. It’s a 1918 D-Series V-8 Touring car and it sold for $46,200.

1918 Chevrolet D-Series V8 Touring

Our featured 1918 Roamer Five-Passenger Touring car sold for $93,500. And the 1920 Premier Model 6-D sold for $63,250. This 1919 Renault Type EU Torpedo seemed especially cheap at $49,500.

1919 Renault Type EU Torpedo

Another car I found interesting was this 1910 Metz Two Runabout. It also sold for $49,500.

1910 Metz Two Runabout

Our other two feature cars were the 1902 Northern Runabout for $66,000 and the 1906 American Tourist Roi des Belges Touring for $110,000. For complete results, check out RM’s website, here.

Alloy 300SL Gullwing

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1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

I’m beginning to think I’ve missed the heyday of custom ordering automobiles. No longer can you go to your local dealer and tick boxes for absurd options that included special engines or go-fast bits from race cars – or, insanely, the type of metal your car is made out of.

Most of Mercedes-Benz’s legendary 300SLs were steel-bodied cars, save for the aluminium hood, doors and trunk lid. Only 29 of them were “Alloy” bodied cars, that is, aluminium all the way around. The cost for this special option was very high and the weight savings around 175 lbs.

These cars were intended for privateer racing teams and were available beginning in 1955, the same year Mercedes-Benz withdrew from competitive motorsport. Other sporting changes made to the Alloy cars included suspension upgrades and those awesome Rudge knock-off wheels. There was also a “special” engine available (to all Gullwings, according to Mercedes) that used a competition camshaft, adding 15 horsepower. This car has that as well, so it’s 3.0-liter straight six makes 215 horsepower.

This is car #21 of the 29 built and its ownership history is known from new. An Alloy 300SL is the most desirable version of an already must-have classic (not counting any of the earlier racing versions). This one has no stories and would be a joy to own – and maybe even flog a little on the backroads. I just hope that the new owner is into that sort of thing, and not into storing this in a bunker somewhere, waiting for prices to rise so they can turn around and cash in. Gooding & Company sold one of these earlier this year for over $4 million. This should do likewise. You can read more here and check out more from RM in London here.

Update: Not sold.

Koenigsegg CCX

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2008 Koenigsegg CCX

Offered by RM Auctions | London, England | October 31, 2012

Boom. The top speed of the car we featured yesterday was 15 mph. This car will do 245 mph. Yeah, that’s a McLaren F1 difference in top speed (they topped out at 231 with the rev limiter). This is one of the finest and fastest legitimate modern supercars in existence.

Christian von Koenigsegg’s first hand built road car was delivered to its new owner in 2002. The CCX model you see here was introduced for 2006 with an eye toward entering the American market (with emissions compliance, etc.). It uses a Koenigsegg-designed twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 making 806 horsepower with 62 mph coming in a scant 3.2 seconds.

The top on this car is removable and can be stowed in the trunk at the front of the car – it fits in there just perfectly and is a really neat design feature. Even neater are the doors: they are not gullwing doors nor are they “Lambo” scissor doors. They are what Koenigsegg refers to as “dihedral synchro-helix” doors. In other words, instead of just flipping forward, they go out, then rotate forward for a truly alien look. Coolest. Doors. Ever.

It’s a quick car – and that small spoiler on the back helps keep it planted. It exists thanks to Top Gear, which tested the first CCX (and it had an “off” into some tires when their test driver, The Stig, lost it at high speed). The wing was introduced and the car topped their lap chart, although the time was, jokingly, credited to “KoenigseggisseggggnignigsegigisegggnigseggniggseggCCX with Top Gear wing.”

It’s also pretty rare. Only 27 were built and this is one of only eight that are in right-hand drive configuration. It is expected to sell for between $380,000-$460,000, the high-end of that being only about $100,000 less than the price as new. Then again, it only has 1,700 miles on it, so it’s almost new. You can read more here and check out more from RM in London, here.

Update: Sold $397,000.

1953 Monterey Woodie Wagon

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1953 Mercury Monterey Station Wagon

Offered by RM Auctions | Grapevine, Texas | October 20, 2012

I think this woodie wagon is way cool. 1953 was the second year for the Mercury Monterey as a stand-alone model (it started as a trim line on the 1950 Mercury Eight). 1953 was the first year for the four-door wagon bodystyle.

Under the hood is a 125 horsepower 4.2-liter flathead V8. I really dig the styling – woodwork on a 1950s wagon is just a solid look. This car was utilitarian by design and by fate. What I mean is that it’s a four-door wagon – fit for a family. Two-door wagons (although this was not offered as such) have a high-survival rate do to their unique style and desirability. Only five Mercury Monterey (four-door) wagons are known to exist (it was the 14th built).

The interior of this car is amazing. It is black and turquoise. Well, instead of talking about it, here’s a picture, tell me this is a color combo that doesn’t blow you away:

Love it. This car is coming from the fairly large Charlie Thomas Collection – you can see the rest of the offerings here – and is expected to sell for between $70,000-$90,000. For more information, click here.

Update: Sold $44,000.

Duesenberg J-468

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1934 Duesenberg Model J LWB Custom Beverly Sedan by Murphy

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 19, 2012

This long-wheelbase Model J has a “Beverly Sedan” body from Murphy. I really don’t know what “Beverly” refers to, but it was used on a few Model Js and a number of Cords. If anyone knows, please share.

In any case, this car (engine no. 468), painted in an ostentatious (and, in my opinion, pretty ugly) shade of gold, is one of 12 Murphy Beverly Sedans built. Of course, it is claimed that this is the “finest in existence,” but then again, who would claim that they car they are trying to sell is “meh, maybe the fourth or fifth finest in existence?”

It is being offered as part of Barrett-Jackson’s second-annual “Salon Collection” (it even has its own website) at their Scottsdale auction in January. The car is coming from the Imperial Palace Collection where it has been on display for some time. Barrett-Jackson doesn’t publish pre-sale estimates and it’s hard to guess, as their prices are all over the place. I expect this car to either A. not meet its reserve or B. go for more than it should after the crowd is prodded by being told it’s “way under the money.” Watch and see. You can read more here.

Update: Sold $1,430,000.

Bonhams Preservation Sale Highlights (10/12)

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Bonhams held a really interesting sale at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia on October 8, 2012. Many of the cars were unrestored survivors but not offered from the Simeone Foundation itself (unfortunately). And some of them were quite interesting, the most interesting of which, I think, still has to be the Woods Mobilette cyclecar that we featured. It sold for $48,300. Our featured Hahn pickup failed to sell. Top sale went to a one-owner 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona for $357,000.

The “interesting sales” portion of this sale consisted of, well… most of the sale. This 1960 Facel-Vega Excellence Sedan is pretty rare and the price showed it, even in “used-car” condition, at $159,000.

But old cars were the name of the game. And barn finds at that. Check out this 1928 Packard Custom Eight Series 4-43 7-Passenger Touring and how, well, creepy it looks. Love it. It sold for $36,000.

And they got even older still: this 1903 Knox Model C Runabout was the oldest car that sold and it brought $69,000.

This 1917 Crane-Simplex Model 5 Dual-Cowl Victoria had wonderful Phaeton coachwork by Farnham & Nelson and is the type of car people dream about coming across in an old garage somewhere. It has never been restored – just preserved, which was the name of the game here and it’s incredible the kind of cars they found that hadn’t been restored. This one sold for $208,500.

Our two other feature cars both sold: the 1904 Buckmobile Runabout for $46,000 and the 1910 McIntrye High-Wheeler for $37,950. Another car I kind of liked was this 1913 Hupmobile Model 32 convertible. It looks gigantic for being a two-seater. It sold for $32,200.

This barn-fresh 1931 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A with Lancefield Faux-Cabriolet coachwork was offered publicly for the first time since 1961. It sold for $186,500.

Not everything was priced exorbitantly. There were some steals to be had. Were I there, I would have definitely bid on this 1926 Buick Standard Six Model 20 Coupe – and probably right up to its $6,900 sale price.

And there were other cars that were just as attractive – in both style and price. You can check them all out here. In any case, this sale proves that there are people who love cars in original condition – even if that means unsightly rust and/or wear. Over-restored cars are pretty on TV or on the lawn at Pebble Beach. But those cars aren’t any fun and they are completely devoid of personality. Give me an 80+ year old car with scrapes and dings and chipped paint and torn seats over some trailer-queen exotic any day.

Autech Zagato Stelvio

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1991 Autech Zagato Stelvio AZ1

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | October 13, 2012

I would hate to call a car that has been designed by one of the world’s foremost automotive design houses “bizarre” so I won’t. I’ll call it “Japanese,” as they are known for their love of quirky, boxy cars. Milanese design house Zagato created the aluminium body – which even has the signature Zagato “double bubble” roof, if only so slightly – while Autech, a Nissan-owned performance tuning subsidiary, was behind the rest of the car.

The car is based on a Nissan Leopard (a car America received as the Infiniti M30) and has an Autech-tuned 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 under hood making 320 horsepower. They also tuned the suspension and the frame. The entire car was built by hand and a production run of 200 was scheduled, although only 104 made it out the door.

They were very expensive when first released in 1989, but the price has subsided a little bit, with Coys expecting this to fetch between $38,000-$48,000. This is a very rare car – tell me if you’ve ever seen one let alone even heard of it. You can read more about it here, and check out the rest of Coys auction lineup here.

1958 Coronet

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1958 Coronet Convertible

Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | October 13, 2012

Coronet Cars Ltd. produced the three-wheeled Coronet Convertible from 1957 through 1960. The British have had a thing for three-wheeled cars since, well, pretty much ever. Each has excelled in different areas, these three-wheelers, but few are attractive (okay, the original Morgans are pretty attractive). This one kind of is – especially when compared to things like the Reliant Robin.

It’s powered by a 328cc straight-twin located behind the seat. It’s rear-engined and rear-wheel drive. Somewhere between 250 and 500 were built – but only seven still exist. It is very rare and highly sought after – especially by microcar collectors.

No estimate is available because there really isn’t much of a precedent, as these don’t come up for sale all that often. $20,000-$40,000 would be a decent estimate, I guess. For more information, click here. And to check out more from Coys, click here.

1906 Pope-Waverley

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1906 Pope-Waverley Electric Runabout

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

From Albert Augustus Pope’s early automotive manufacturing empire comes this 1906 Pope-Waverely Electric Runabout. Waverely was actually founded in 1899 in Indianapolis by the Indiana Bicycle Company. They began by making electric two-seaters. In 1903, the Pope Motor Car Company scooped up Waverely and changed the name to reflect their new corporate overlords.

This model is a three horsepower model with a 60-volt DC motor. The body is a simple runabout with tiller steering. It also has electric lighting and the older restoration still shows well. The Pope empire crumbled quickly, going bankrupt in 1907. Waverely was spun off as an independent marque again in 1908, but some Pope makes lasted longer – up through 1914.

As electric vehicles become popular once again, cars like this are finding a larger collector fanbase and prices will be going up. The price for this car is expected to be between $60,000-$80,000. For more information, click here. And for the rest of the RM Auctions Hershey lineup, click here.

Update: Sold $60,500.